Belkin Readies SMB Portfolio, Partner Program Around Linksys Brand

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The new Belkin SMB partner program will be complemented by a new SMB product portfolio, Belkin's Thacker told CRN.

The new products will be rolled out in a phased approach, with the first group consisting largely of infrastructure-focused products. These, Thacker said, will include a series of switches, ranging from five to 24 ports, along with Power-over-Ethernet switches. The first phase of products is expected to hit the market by February 2014.

The second phase of products, Thacker said, will focus predominately on wireless, ushering in new dual- and single-band wireless Access Points (APs), along with VPN and stackable routers that can accommodate up to 99 seats. Thacker said IP surveillance equipment will also be part of this second-phase launch.

These products will all be manageable by an upcoming Belkin and Linksys smart cloud solution.

"If you are using video surveillance or any of the VPN routers, you also have a cloud you can access to better manage all your Linksys equipment over that cloud," Thacker said.

The third phase of the new Belkin SMB portfolio will focus on what Thacker called "automated office" solutions, which will leverage the cloud to automate office functions, ranging from wireless access to the use of a coffee machine to lighting controls. These solutions are slated to launch in 2015.

Doron Kempel says selling hyper-convergence can be challenging for solution providers, but success will come from taking business from competitors that are unprepared or hesitant to embrace the technology.